I lost 3 pounds this week!! I could hardly believe it. I didn’t eat the best but I did stay within my points and journal what I ate. Just goes to show that that makes a BIG difference. Write down what you eat!! When I didn’t I gained a pound last week and when I did this week I lost three. The proof is in the pudding as they say, just make sure it’s sugar free and fat free. LOL My goals for this week are to drink my water and do my new fitness plan Slim in 6. I also want to work on eating more fruits and veggies this week. I need to go shopping for some and then my plan is to eat one serving at every meal and one at two different times for snacks. What are your weight loss or fitness goals this week?

Every week this fall I will be featuring a home based business and giving away something to you my readers!!  This is going to be so awesome.  So far it looks like I will have Cakes with Jaz, Sew Cute Designs, Gourmet Cupboard, Dove Chocolate, Beachbody, The Modest Mom, Scentsy, Pampered Chef, Tupperware, and Usborne.  I’m still working on getting some of these lined up and even more!! So check back every Monday or better yet sign up for the RSS feed or via email on the sidebar so you don’t miss a thing.

The first giveaway in the series is from my business with Usborne Books and More.  I have been a consultant for about two years now and I love it!  At the beginning of the year I promoted to supervisor and it has been a great business through all of my children. I love books and have kids so it was the perfect fit.  Plus the fact that there are no monthly minimums and I am a consultant for life was a huge selling point since then I don’t have to worry about stuff while I am pregnant or after birth, ect.   My kids love Usborne books and love to help me pack the bags when I get books ready to deliver.

This is our mission statement: ”The future of our world depends on the education of our children.  UBAM delivers educational excellence one book at a time.  We provide economic opportunity while fostering strong family values.  We touch the lives of children for a lifetime.”  One of our taglines is “Books Kids Love to Read.”  And time and time again I see this to be tree. I have tons of customers who have told me their kids wouldn’t read anything until they got them some Usborne books.  They are colorful and engaging with knowledge in bite sized chunks.  I love our books!!

I specifically want to show you two of the books in a new drawing series.  They are great for Christmas gifts and I am giving away the Drawing Pirates and Drawing Princesses but we also have Drawing Dinosaurs and Drawing Horses. They have great plastic covers and are super sturdy with stickers, papers, instructions, stencils, scenes to draw on, and some info on the topic to learn in the back.  The girl ones (horses and princesses) even snap and have a handle so they look like a purse.  They retail for $14,99 a piece.  When I pulled them out of the box my kids were ooohing and ahhing and it was all I could do to keep them away from them. Needless to say they will be getting them for Christmas. So without further ado here is a short picture tour through the books.

Starting with Drawing Princesses because we all know that girls go first.  :)

Cover

Inside the Front Cover

One of the Sticker Pages

Removable Stencils

Some of the Fabric Like Paper

Silhouettes to Decorate

Directions in the back

And now on to the Drawing Pirates book.

Cover

Inside the front cover

Some of the stickers

Papers

Removable Stencils

Close up of how the stencils go in and out

Scenes

Info in the back

So there are the great books! In addition to giving away a copy of each of those, if you host a catalog, online, or regular party and it reaches $200 in October you will be entered in a drawing for the Very First Reading Set. So far there is only one person entered! You don’t want to miss out. Here is a picture and description of the set.

Very First Reading Set

Usborne Very First Reading is an exciting series of fifteen books for children who are just starting to learn to read. It offers:
- the appeal of imaginative rhyming stories and irresistible illustrations
- the support of a well-researched framework
- the enjoyment of shared reading with an adult

So enter the drawing just use the rafflecopter below! If you need help figuring it out just leave a comment. You have until next Monday to enter! Stay tuned for a review of Cakes with Jaz next week.

If you are a woman, as I suppose most of my readers to be, I am sure you have compared yourselves to your friends.  You think, “wow, that mom does a lot.”  Or “she has such a clean, organized house.”  Or “how does she run her home so effectively.”  Or “how does she have so much time to make such beautiful things.”  The list could go on and on.  I find myself comparing myself a lot lately. I’ll come home from wherever I’ve been or talk to my husband after reading blogs or facebook and be down on myself because I don’t do such and such.  But then I remember I have FOUR kids…three of whom are under 3!  AND God has not called me to be those other woman.  He has called me to be the mom of my four blessings and the wife to my husband.  No one else can do that. Lots of people can be the best business owner, or the most organized mom, or the most crafty, or whatever but no one and I mean no one else can be my kids mommy or my husband’s wife.  Remember this when you start to compare yourself with those around you because you know we all do.  There are certain things that God has called you to that no one else can do it.  Do these will all your might and God will bring you peace and joy as you fulfill His purpose.

I’m going to be sharing my Bible Study notes on 1 John on my blog. I’m using the SOAP method which is to write out the Scripture, write one to two Observations, make Application, and then write a Prayer. Some days I may not share if it is too personal. I hope this is encouraging to you. And if you want to join in just go to http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/

1 John 1:4 “And we are writing these things so that your joy may be complete.:

Observation
Sharing about what he, John, had seen and heard made his joy complete.  He also wanted to promote joy which can only come from the Father.

Application
We need to share our joy with other’s to make it complete in our lives and theirs.

Prayer
Lord, help me to find my joy in You and to share it with others so it may be complete. In Jesus name, Amen

I stole this from A Wise Woman Builds Her Home.  Go check out her blog for other encouraging posts.

If I talk to my children about what is right and what is wrong, but I have not love, I am like a ringing doorbell or pots banging in the kitchen. And though I know what stages they will go through, and understanding their growing pains, and can answer all their questions about life, and believe myself to be a devoted mother, but I have not love, I have nothing.

If I give up the fulfillment of a career to make my children’s lives better, and stay up all night sewing costumes or baking cookies at short notice, but grumble about lack of sleep, I have not love and accomplish nothing.

A loving mother is patient with her children’s immaturity and kind even when they are not; a loving mother is not jealous of their youth nor does she hold it over their heads whenever she has sacrificed for them.

A loving mother believe in her children; she hopes in each one’s individual ability to stand out as a light in a dark world; she endures every backache  and hearthache to accomplish that.

A loving mother never really dies. As for home-baked bread, it will be consumed and forgotten: as for spotless floors, they will soon gather dust and heel marks. As for children, right now toys, friends and food are all-important to them. But when they grow up, it will be their mother’s love that they will remember and pass on to others. In that way, she will live on.

So care, training and a loving mother reside in a home, these three but the greatest of these is a loving mother.

I’m going to be sharing my Bible Study notes on 1 John on my blog. I’m using the SOAP method which is to write out the Scripture, write one to two Observations, make Application, and then write a Prayer. Some days I may not share if it is too personal. I hope this is encouraging to you. And if you want to join in just go to http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/

1 John 1:3 “that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowhsip with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ.”

Observation
John desires to procalim what he has seen and heard not just to bring people to salvation, but so they can be in fellowship with him. And not just with but with the Father.

Application
We need to proclaim the Word and draw others into fellowship. We need to draw others into fellowship. We need to draw them to personal communion with God. What am I drawing people to? What am I drawing my kids to? Is it fellowship with God?

Prayer
Lord, help me to be someone who draws others to fellowship with you. Help my spirit and attitude during the day draw my children to you. In Jesus name, Amen.

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Now since this was supposed to be Wednesday’s post and that is the link up day and I totally missed it, let’s just pretend I posted this on time and go ahead and do the link up.  :) So just go back in time with me and pretend it is in Wednesday.  LOL

I’m going to be sharing my Bible Study notes on 1 John on my blog. I’m using the SOAP method which is to write out the Scripture, write one to two Observations, make Application, and then write a Prayer. Some days I may not share if it is too personal. I hope this is encouraging to you. And if you want to join in just go to http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/

1 John 1:2 – “the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and procalim to you the eternal life which was with the father and was made manifest to us –”  ESV

Observation
In the last part of this verse we once again see the truth that Jesus is fully God and fully man.

The words life and eternal life tell us about the quality of life we have when in fellowship with God, through Christ.  We saw it first demonstrated in christ and now lived out in the believer.  Thsi fellowship grows out of the relationship between the Son and the Father.

Application
We have been given life and eternal life from God through the work of Jesus.  Thsi is totally a work of the grace of God and nothing we do or did.  We need to live in such a way that shows our dependence on that grace and thankfullness for that grace.

Prayer
Lord, Thank you for your grace that has given me life, eternal life.  Help me never to take that for granted.  In Jesus name, Amen

I’m going to be sharing my Bible Study notes on 1 John on my blog. I’m using the SOAP method which is to write out the Scripture, write one to two Observations, make Application, and then write a Prayer. Some days I may not share if it is too personal. I hope this is encouraging to you. And if you want to join in just go to http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/

1 John 1:1 – “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life –” ESV

Observations
Jesus has always existed. he is from the beginning. This means He is truly God, and John saw Him, heard Him, and felt Him, which means He was also fully man.

Since John had seen, heard, and felt Jesus, we can trust His authority. He was not just making it up. His message is not based on just emotion, it’s based on truth, The Truth.

Application
We need to base our beliefs on the Word of God, not on what we feel or experience.

Prayer
Lord, Help me to dive into your Word more and base my life and beliefs on your Word. Help me to reject emotionalism and mere experience. Guide me in the Truth. In Jesus name, Amen

You don’t want to miss out on the 31 Gifts Giveaway on The Joys of Home Educating blog!!! She is giving away a large utility tote. http://just-starting-out.blogspot.com/2011/09/facebook-giveaway-thirty-one.html